Unlike the MPAA we do not assign
one
inscrutable rating based on age, but 3 objective ratings for SEX/NUDITY, VIOLENCE/GORE
and PROFANITY on a scale of 0 to 10, from lowest to highest,
depending on quantity and context.
Tom Cruise reprises his role as Ethan Hunt, an IMF agent who must assemble a team
to locate vials of a deadly virus manufactured by a pharmaceutical company before being
sold or unleashed on the public. Also with Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, Ving Rhames,
William R. Mapother, Brendan Gleeson, Anthony Hopkins, John Polson, Dominic Purcell,
Richard Roxburgh and Rade Serbedzija. Directed by John Woo. [2:07]
SEX/NUDITY 3 - Some sexual innuendo and a few kisses. A clothed man falls on
top of a clothed woman in a bath tub; they lie there for a little while with their faces
nearly touching, then they switch positions and she sits on top him (with most of her bare
legs and lots of cleavage visible) to open a safe next to the tub. A woman sits on a man's
lap and kisses him; in the next scene -- obviously post-coitus -- we see them talking and
then kissing in bed (his bare chest is visible, and we briefly see her bare back). We see
a man's facial expression as a woman changes clothes in front of him; he grabs her arm
while she's presumably nude (we only see a flash of her bare back) and kisses her. We see
a woman wearing a couple of cleavage- and midriff-revealing tops.
VIOLENCE/GORE 6 - Many people are shot and fall to the ground; no blood or
bloody gunshot wounds are visible, except in two of the shootings. In several scenes
gunfire is exchanged and people are nearly shot. A handcuffed man with a bloody nose is
dragged into a room, kicked in the face, shot in the knee (a man then steps on his wounded
knee), and shot repeatedly until he slumps over. A man twists another's neck, presumably
killing him. A man's finger is placed in a cigar clipper, and after another man threatens
to cut the finger for awhile, he finally does (we only see the man's pained expression,
then see his bandaged finger throughout the rest of the movie). In an extended fight scene
men punch and kick each other in the head and torso, and they also choke, elbow, flip,
tackle, and throw each other; one is hit in the head with a rock, one is slashed in the
cheek and back with a knife (we briefly see the man's bloody shirt and see blood on his
cheek throughout the rest of the fight), one is nearly stabbed in the eye with a knife
(the knife is held less than an inch from his eye for a little bit), and one's head is
thrown onto a pointy rock and he appears to be dead. A man breaks into a compound and
attacks about six guards; he kicks, punches, head-butts, chokes, and flips them until they
fall to the ground. A woman slaps a man's face, a man elbows another's face, a man grabs
another by the neck and holds him against a wall, a man grabs a woman and holds his hand
over her mouth briefly, a woman somewhat playfully knees a man's stomach, and a man closes
a door on another (which causes his bandaged finger to bleed a little). Fumes fill the
back of a limo and cause a man to choke and lose consciousness; in a later scene he's
"gassed" again while in a hospital, hooked up to tubes and lying inside a
plastic tent (we later see that he's fine and back inside his limo). A rock climber nearly
falls off the edge of a cliff. Two men drive their motorcycles toward each other, jump
off, hit each other in the air, and land hard on the ground below a small cliff. During an
extended car and motorcycle chase people exchange gunfire, two riders are shot off their
motorcycles, a car bumps into the back of a motorcycle, a few cars are bombed and then
explode, and a couple of cars explode after running into or being hit by other cars. Two
cars chase and run into each other, weaving in and out of traffic and nearly hitting other
cars; they lock side mirrors and spin toward the edge of a cliff, resulting in one of the
passengers dangling over the side of the cliff (the person is rescued). Several explosions
sometimes knock a few people down; also, a plane explodes when it flies into a mountain,
obviously killing all of its passengers (we see the charred wreckage in a later scene with
no bodies visible), and a car is bombed and explodes (we see pieces flying). Effigies are
burned during a religious festival. We briefly see photos of a corpse with a bloody face.
We see video still-frames of a virus-infected man's face as it gets more and more blotchy
(it looks like the skin is decomposing) and finally has blood running down it. We see a
close-up of a large needle injected into a person's ankle; also, two people inject
themselves with a virus (we see small red marks on one of the person's arms). We hear a
squishy sound as a man presumably steps in feces.
the review continues below...
PROFANITY 4 - An anatomical reference, a couple of scatological references,
several mild obscenities, several insults, and some British slang terms. [profanity glossary]
A CAVEAT: We've gone through several editorial changes since we
started covering films in 1992 and some of our early standards were
not as stringent as they are now. We therefore need to revisit many
older reviews, especially those written prior to 1998 or so; please
keep this in mind if you're consulting a review from that period.
While we plan to revisit and correct older reviews our resources are
limited and it is a slow, time-consuming process.
Become a member: You can subscribe
for as little as $1 per month and gain access to our premium site,
which contains no ads whatsoever. Think about it: You'll be
helping support our site and guarantee that we will continue to
publish, and you will be able to browse without any commercial
interruptions.
2.
Tell all your friends:
Please recommend kids-in-mind.com to
your friends and acquaintances; you'll be helping them by
letting them know how useful our site is, while helping us by
increasing our readership. Since we do not advertise, the best
and most reliable way to spread the word is by word-of-mouth.
3.
Alert local & national media:
Let major media know why you trust our ratings.
Call or e-mail a local newspaper, radio station or TV channel
and encourage them to do a story about our site. Since we do not have a PR firm working for us, you can
be our media ambassadors.
"This is an excellent resource for
families. Merits two thumbs up...[Finally] movie ratings that actually
work"